is this enough food for my bearded dragon, or too much? please help, if you can!?

Question

i have a 4 years old bearded dragon, who doesn't eat on her own. i don't know why, and the vet doesn't know why. the vet has told me to keep doing what i have been doing for the past year. which is feeding her every night, by sliding a syringe into the side of her mouth and squirting food onto her tongue, and allowing her to swallow it on her own. the vet says that she should have 7-12 ccs of food a day. for awhile i was just feeding her baby food, because it was the easiest to feed through a syringe. but i have started sliding bugs and bearded dragon pellets into her mouth, and she eats that just as well.i am having a hard time, though, of figuring out the equivalent of 10 ccs of food. tonight i gave her 7 ccs of baby food, 6 bearded dragon pellets (each 1/4 of an inch), and 8 smaaall mealworms. is this too much food? or too little? or right on target?
your help is greatly appreciated!!

she doesn't fight when i feed her, btw....so i'm not "holding her down against her will". she has to eat, guys. i'm not just gonna let her starve. geez.

Answer 1

the amount the vet told you sounds right...and if you gave her 7ccs of babyfood I don't think the rest would add up to over 12 ccs if mushed all together. It sounds to me like you are right on, other than I would trade the mealworms in for silkworms and a few wax worms occasionally. Not too many wax worms due to the fat . It sounds like you are doing great with her..I would be perplexed as to why she won't eat on her own...my beardie was a PIG...but if it is working, then keep at it. :-) Maybe a reptile specialist or a vet that specializes in herps would know more than your current vet? HTH

Answer 2

Like I said before. Animals are not anorexic. Your pet's feeding problems are due to either incorrect care of the animal or a medical problem. Asking the same question over and over again on here isn't going to fix any of these problems. Fix the problem and you wont have to worry about force feeding her. And if she was healthy she would be eating herself. Animals don't forget how to eat just because you've been force feeding them. People are giving you really good suggestions to help your problem the right way but for some reason you don't want to hear that there may be something wrong with what you're doing.

Answer 3

im sure you have probably checked as you have seen a vet but she doesnt hav ea hidden problem in her mouth does she? infection, sore/missing teeth, just a thought my dragon is a pig but to give you an idea he eats usually every day about 1/4 cup of chopped veggies/fruit split so half in morn half at night every other day either 6lg meal worms and 12 lg crickets or 10 wax worms 6 lg ckrickets all dusted with calcuim and a pinkie mouse about every 4 to 6 weeks if you mush it all up its a bit more than what yours eats but he is a pig. He is about 4 or 5 yrs old and 1ft and a half big. hope this helps keep up the good job look after her.

Answer 4

If she is heavy enough,and has a fat tail,then you are feeding her enough.You might add some banana,canned dog food,and wax worms for extra calories.Also,try offering her a nice,fat ,wiggly earthworm;this will often entice picky reptiles to eat. But it sounds like you are feeding her enough.

Answer 5

You're leaving out very important information pertaining to her husbandry conditions. What are they? This could be the source of why she's not eating in the first place.

Answer 6

vets are stupid, and you shouldn't hold a dragon against its will. do you really think that lizard enjoys being in a cage? do you? keep it in longer, and don't feed it, see how long it takes to starve to death

Answer 7

I really can't say.

However, is the hairy clam being well fed?